The public are to be asked whether they think examination standards are falling, according to the new independent watchdog.
Kathleen Tattersall, the first head of Ofqual, is to gather evidence on the thorny issue of whether public examinations are being dumbed down.
Ms Tattersall says that the public have unrealistic expectations that assessment should be absolutely perfect or accurate, citing the examples of essay and multiple choice questions where answers could be influenced by the interpretation of the examiner or sheer luck.
Ofqual's creation was announced last autumn, when the Government said it was splitting the two functions of the exams watchdog QCA, which had been charged with making sure standards were maintained and with shaping the curriculum and testing regime.
In a letter to Schools Secretary Ed Balls, Ms Tattersall said her first priority would be "to establish Ofqual as a credible, authoritative and independent voice in the debate around standards, assessment and qualifications, as we maintain and develop the ongoing work of regulating qualifications and tests".
Speaking to the Press Association news agency Ms Tattersall said: "We have really got to begin to engage with the public in a dialogue about the nature of the examination system.
"There's a broad expectation that assessment should be absolutely perfect and accurate, that a mark of 50 is a mark of 50, regardless of who marks, the time at which it is marked and so on.
"There is a precision expected of the system. We need to explore whether that sort of expectation is well-founded, or whether within the system there are some trade-offs between absolute reliability of that nature and the validity of the way in which we go about assessment."
Ms Tattersall suggested it was difficult to maintain standards whenever courses were revised or syllabuses changed.
Kathleen Tattersall, the first head of Ofqual, is to gather evidence on the thorny issue of whether public examinations are being dumbed down.
Ms Tattersall says that the public have unrealistic expectations that assessment should be absolutely perfect or accurate, citing the examples of essay and multiple choice questions where answers could be influenced by the interpretation of the examiner or sheer luck.
Ofqual's creation was announced last autumn, when the Government said it was splitting the two functions of the exams watchdog QCA, which had been charged with making sure standards were maintained and with shaping the curriculum and testing regime.
In a letter to Schools Secretary Ed Balls, Ms Tattersall said her first priority would be "to establish Ofqual as a credible, authoritative and independent voice in the debate around standards, assessment and qualifications, as we maintain and develop the ongoing work of regulating qualifications and tests".
Speaking to the Press Association news agency Ms Tattersall said: "We have really got to begin to engage with the public in a dialogue about the nature of the examination system.
"There's a broad expectation that assessment should be absolutely perfect and accurate, that a mark of 50 is a mark of 50, regardless of who marks, the time at which it is marked and so on.
"There is a precision expected of the system. We need to explore whether that sort of expectation is well-founded, or whether within the system there are some trade-offs between absolute reliability of that nature and the validity of the way in which we go about assessment."
Ms Tattersall suggested it was difficult to maintain standards whenever courses were revised or syllabuses changed.
